To Judge An Enemy
by samus18
Summary: [Right after Zero Hour] Archer has a breif moment with someone in the afterlife.


_Note_: I guess I got inspired to write this a few hours after watching, "The Council," from season three. Don't get me wrong though; Dolim freakin' rocks, but this plot seemed way too good to pass by.  
Also, I'm horrible at keeping people in-character, so please bare with me if any of them seem...out of the ordinary. XP 

_Summary_: At the end of "Zero Hour" we all know that Archer didn't really die...but say he got a visit from a rather familiar face and needed to receive a rather important message.

_**To Judge An Enemy**_

The noise was deafening to his ears. The sound of the Xindi-reptilian ship being torn to shreds sent a rush of adrenaline all throughout Captain Archer's nervous system, but he had to keep his focus on escaping some way...any way, even as bleak as his circumstances were, and everything was happening to fast. But Archer never gave up.

And then...

Archer opened his eyes to soft light. He knew the moment he did that he was lying down, and for a moment that was all he did: lay there. Blinking once and trying to collect his thoughts, Archer sat up and recognized his own quarters. Had he been saved from the explosion? No...it couldn't be.

As if to assure himself that he was not dead, or simply going insane, he touched the bed covers and ran his hand across the pillow; they felt as real as his puzzlement. Archer stood up quickly, attempting to head to the bridge, ready to compose himself for his crew, ready for an explanation...but before he reached the solid door, an all-too-familiar voice sounded behind him.

"Captain."

Archer whirled around, only to face Daniels. Of course. Being slightly more used to this man's sudden appearances, and also somewhat thankful that with Daniels here, he might get answers to all his questions that were threatening to burst from his mind, Archer straightened himself and, for once, waited until Daniels did the talking.

"You're not dead," Daniels said as he walked towards Archer, "but...not quite alive enough."

"What's going on?" Archer asked calmly as he could, unable to contain his discomfort any longer.

"You tried escaping from the Xindi-ship after stopping the weapon from being deployed. You only just made it."

"What do you mean?"

"You're not on Enterprise, Captain," Daniels continued, "what you see is merely a memory from you. There isn't much time," he said, as if the two had an important rendezvous, "you will awake in several hours, but this time I'm not here to tell you what will come."

Archer blinked, his expression showing slight confusion. He shifted himself and before he could get any further response from Daniels, the time-traveling Human said:

"There is a message for you. You'll receive it shortly."

"Daniels-!" Archer started, but in the blink of an eye, his quarters vanished around him and the confused Captain found himself standing in the middle of what appeared to be a garden, or courtyard of some sort.

Tall trees towered over him, and as far as the eye could see. There was a single water fountain not ten feet away, and the sky was a shady gray. A soft wind blew the tree branches amongst themselves, and a fair-distance off, the music of birds could be heard of a kind Archer had never experienced before.

Wherever, or whatever, this place was, it wasn't Earth. Archer grew impatient, mostly at Daniels, for his lack of knowledge of the goings-on. He didn't even know if his crew was safe, or what the outcome of everything had been.

Spotting a bench nearby, he sighed and wearily took a seat. The trickling noise of the water in the fountain splashing onto stone did nothing to ease Archer's nerves, and he knew he probably wasn't going to solve this riddle any time soon, despite anything Daniels had told him.

'Think, Archer...think,' he laid his face in his hands and rubbed his forehead in frustration. What had happened right before he died? Wait, no...he wasn't dead, Daniels had said so...but then where was he?

Heat. Archer remembered it getting perilously hot right before he died...and just when he knew that his body temperature had reached its maximum, he found himself in his quarters. Nothing made sense. He clenched his fist in frustration and stole a glance to the side. A brightly-colored jay was perched at the edge of the fountain, darting here and there, eventually splashing into the cold water.

This distracted Archer for a moment until he heard footsteps to the right. He turned, quick as lightning, and found standing before him the last person he'd expect to see at the moment.

Archer's face twisted into mild bewilderment. "Degra?"

It _was_ Degra. The Xindi nodded somewhat sadly, his hands folded in that ever-formal manner of his, head turned towards the ground.

Archer, in all honesty, had never been completely comfortable with this man, and had no idea what to make of the situation, but felt it better that he let Degra speak first, assuming this Xindi knew what was going on.

"I apologize for your confusion...Captain," Degra said, somewhat uneasily.

"Do you have any idea what's going on?"

Degra nodded, this time his shining eyes meeting the ones of Archer. "I know you've...completed your mission to save your planet," he paused, and Archer detected a hint of anxiety, "but really, I've brought you here to thank you." Degra took several steps closer. He tore his eyes away from Archer and rested them, instead, on the water fountain.

"Thank me?" The Captain asked, unsure of what Degra was meaning.

"Before I was killed by Commander Dolim," Degra continued, "he vowed to...kill my wife and children. It was the last thing I heard," he hesitated, "but because of you, I can now rest in peace, awaiting the day when my family will come to me. They are safe now." It took every ounce of strength Degra had to keep himself composed when speaking of his family in danger.

Archer straightened and tilted his head to the side, his mouth slightly open in deep thought. "...You know the Commander is dead?"

"Yes," Degra faced him, "don't ask me how... But my family owes you their lives."

Archer looked down.

"Nevertheless," Degra pressed with more passion in his voice, "if it hadn't been for you...they might all be dead right now..." His eyes were glistening.

Archer, somewhat uncertainly, placed his hand on Degra's shoulder and met his intense gaze. "There's no need to worry about that now. They're safe." The Human assured him with such confidence in his voice that Degra, even if Dolim were still alive, would find it hard not to believe Archer.

"I thank you, Jonathan Archer." Degra inhaled deeply. In a strange way, he felt almost guilty that Archer had saved his wife and children from certain death, when he had assisted in signing the death sentence for seven million of Archer's people. It was a subject that always troubled the Xindi's mind, and it didn't make him feel any better right then and there.

Jonathan Archer nodded once in respect towards Degra and turned his back. To what, he knew not...but he felt uneasy around Degra, now knowing that the Xindi did, indeed, have some humanity in him. He has a family in the "living world" that he loves...perhaps that made him no different from almost every other Human on Earth.

"I'll leave you now," Degra's voice interrupted Archer's thoughts, and the Captain turned once again to regard Degra, "you have another mission to complete."

Archer never did get to ask Degra what he meant. The proud Xindi's face slowly faded into the Eden-like surroundings and Archer felt a jolt fly through his body.

Then he opened his eyes to a truly strange sight, indeed.


End file.
